Rafael Bezares

Rafael Bezares sings Il trovatore: Di quella pira
Super-rare cylinder, unfortunately in bad shape.
In RA format

Rafael Bezares sings La Dolores: Aragón, la más famosa

Rafael Bezares sings Bohemios: Por qué vuestros labios permanecen mudos?, with Dolores Escalona
About his birth, there is no confirmed information. Most think he was born about 1860, and some think it was in Córdoba, but all that may as well be mere invention.

In any case, he studied voice at the Madrid conservatory with baritone Napoleón Bergés, and was originally an opera tenor. He sang for instance in Córdoba, at the Teatro Real in Madrid (Elvino and Almaviva, season 1901/02) or in Oviedo (Rodolfo, Elvino and Duca in 1902).

From 1905/06, when he was a member of the itinerant Gorgé company, he dedicated himself exclusively to zarzuela, and sang with all the leading companies in that genre. His signature works were Marina, Moros y cristianos, El anillo de hierro, El dúo de La africana and La tempestad.

He died in Córdoba in 1922.

Reference 1, reference 2: Forgotten Opera Singers, reference 3

I would like to thank Ashot Arakelyan for the recordings (La Dolores, Bohemios).


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